The present disclosure relates to a process of cutting and slitting adhesive signage for store shelving, and more particularly, to an improved method for cutting and slitting sheets of adhesive signage into individualized signage members without leaving scrim.
In general, marketing signs for in-store shelving can be either an adhesive type or non-adhesive type. In U.S. Pat. No. 7,975,416 B2, a non-adhesive type marketing sign is shown that includes a free portion, a base portion and a connected portion that couples the base portion to the free portion. The base portion includes an engaging piece and a support piece. The engaging piece is coupled to the support piece of a base bend line and configured to engage with a portion of a product display structure having a price holder. Another marketing sign is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 8,302,338 constructed of sheet material. The sheet material includes a free portion, a base portion and a connecting portion that couples the base portion to the free portion. The base portion includes an engaging piece and a support piece. The engaging piece is coupled to the support piece at a base bend line and configured to engage with a portion of a product display structure having a price holder. The connecting is defined between a first connecting bend line spaced apart from a second connecting bend line by a first distance. The first connecting bend line is adjacent the support piece of the base portion and the second connecting bend line is adjacent the free portion. The first distance substantially corresponds with a top edge thickness of the price holder.
The process currently used to create adhesive signage for store shelving involves applying a PSA (pressure sensitive adhesive) tape to a paper sheet or other substrate and then printing signs on the modified substrate. The tape involves an adhesive and a backer which leads to a major problem when feeding the signage into a printer due to the uneven deformation of sheet stacks as a result of the pressure sensitive adhesive tape along the top of the sheets and none along the bottom of the sheets. The media is ˜8 mils thick and the adhesive tape is ˜10 mils thick leading to a total thickness of roughly 18 mils on one side of the media and 8 mils on the other. One solution to this problem is to use an additional and sacrificial tape strip along the bottom of the sheets or the sheets cannot be fed. However, this creates an additional problem in that the cost of the tape used in this process is prohibitively high and the tape strips are not optimized for high speed slitting with cross process collation need for specialized in-store applications.
A process which creates a taped media imposition on media sheets that orients the PSA (pressure sensitive adhesive) to card color bands which are imposed in a mirror image is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,475,367. This process removes the feeding problems, as well as, the need for a sacrificial tape strip.
However, in some instances, the adhesive strip construction in U.S. Pat. No. 9,475,367 can have durability issues in stores with signs falling off store shelve edges.
Multilayer substrates for making in-store signage for shelving that include a polymer lined fully backed adhesive stock can be cut into predetermined sized cards for store shelving that adds strength, but does not accommodate slitting into consistent pieces often leaving material cut from the substrates hanging onto the substrates and causes clogs and jams in a downstream collator.
Obviously, there is a need for an improved system and process for cutting and slitting polymer lined fully backed adhesive signage stock for store shelving while simultaneously eliminating material hanging from the signage stock.